Chanakira vies for Harare town clerk job

Nigel Chanakira headlines a stellar cast of top names vying for the coveted Harare town clerk Job.

The Daily News can report that Chanakira, founder of the now defunct Kingdom bank and current chairperson of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority board, is one of the nine finalists who were interviewed for the job on Monday.

The list also includes senior MDC official and Hatfield National Assembly representative, Tapiwa Mashakada, Harare acting town clerk Josephine Ncube, City of Harare human capital director Cainos Chingombe, Bindura town clerk Shangwa Mavesera, newly-appointed Gweru town clerk Elizabeth Gwatipedza, National Joint Negotiating Council chairperson Nelson Sambureni and Makono Mutimusakwa.

Chairperson of the Harare City Council human resources committee, Wellington Chikombo, confirmed the list yesterday.

"Interviews were done yesterday (Monday) and there will be a special council meeting for it," he said.

Chikombo, however, declined to shed more light saying he was not at liberty to do so.

Harare City Council has been hunting for a substantive town clerk for the past two years after the sacking of Tendai Mahachi in June 2015.

Council went through an elaborate process to select a new town clerk last year which ended with the appointment of top banker, James Mushore.

The former NMB bank chief executive officer did not last on the job as he was fired as soon as he was appointed, with government arguing that council had by-passed proper procedures.

Mushore has been fighting for reinstatement, but council has since terminated his contract of employment, opting to pay him an exit package amounting to over $167 000.

Chanakira has the same banking background as Mushore.

He founded Kingdom Bank from a small operation in 1994 and helped it grow into a leading indigenous financial services group.

Kingdom was at one time regarded as one of the few indigenous success stories in the local banking sector, stable and trusted.

Chanakira's remarkable, and at one time seemingly overwhelming career saw him collecting 17 local and international business excellence awards as his empire grew in impressive fashion, attracting envious eyes from investors.

Kingdom began expanding its operations into the region before striking a major deal and merging with Meikles Limited in 2007, creating one of largest companies in the country — Kingdom Meikles.

The union, however, only lasted two years after a protracted shareholding dispute with the majority shareholders.

Chanakira resigned as chief executive officer of Kingdom Meikles in 2009 after falling out with Meikles chairman John Moxon.

The Kingdom Meikles group would eventually demerge in 2011, which marked the beginning of the demise of Kingdom Bank.

In 2013, Chanakira was allegedly probed by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on allegations of abusing depositors' funds amounting to $3 million which is believed to be one of the factors which contributed to the collapse of the bank.

He subsequently ceded his 30 percent shareholding in Kingdom to Mauritius-based AfrAsia Holdings in a cash equity deal, leaving the bank that he had founded and had associated with for 19 years.